3 year old 250 HP leg stuck

"Just came from the shop that

"Just came from the shop that does all my repairs when I need help. They just worked on a 3 year old 250 h.p that the customer wanted them to do a water pump impeller replacement as preventative maintenance. They could not get the driveshaft out of the powerhead and had to give up. telling the customer to run it until the waterpump failed and deal with it then. he has had this motor all over town, no one can get it apart. Anyone know any tricks these very experienced mechanics may have not heard of?"

i HAVE IN THE PAST WITH MIXED

i HAVE IN THE PAST WITH MIXED RESULTS REMOVED THE PROP AND UNDONE ALL LOWER UNIT BOLTS INCLUDING SHIFT (Bloody caps lock!!!) then placed a wooden wedge between the gearcase and trunk housing (at the rear) and ran the engine the vibration and side ways load on the drive shaft made it come loose

Probably going to have to cut

Probably going to have to cut the drive shaft. Than pull the powerhead to replace the drive gear and Drive shaft. About a $1500 repair parts and labor. Suzuki recommends water pumps every 12 months or 200hrs whichever comes first. I like to use a synthetic base extreme pressure grease for the splines.

Was this his first water pump????

"I'm assuming it is, didn&

"I'm assuming it is, didn't ask. Was just surprised that my mechanic friend said they couldn't fix it. Was first time in 25 years I heard those words from him. I'll mention the seal failure causing salt water to get in. That should be a warranty repair on a 3 year old engine. With this engine I guess an annual leg removal and marine grade never seize is in order. I'm not that big a fan of Suzuki design. He showed me the timing chain under the powerhead...I wonder how many powerhead bolts the average guy will snap off trying to replace that!"

I am curently dealing with a 5

I am curently dealing with a 5 year old 250 where the drive shaft is hung up and lower unit will not drop. what causes it and can it be forced?

"I know if you follow the main

"I know if you follow the maintanance schedule. I have seen no problems. A 5 year old engine should have had at least 5 water pumps. How many have you had done capn Jim?

This can happen on any of the DF V6. We have done four or five of these so far and all were used in commercial apps and exceeded the recommended service interval. The maintanance is different for these engines and needs to be followed. All service on any outboard needs to be done at the recommened service interval or hours period. If you never pulled your prop to grease the shaft what do you think will happen.

Heres the fix like it or not. Cut the driveshaft right at the base of the powerhead. Get creative. Don't cut a hole in the exhaust hsg. The drive shaft is exposed at the base of the Pwr hd. Remove the power head, Un-time the engine remove and replace the drive gear. Replace the lower main seal, ds seals, re-time and reassemble. Disassemble the lower unit and replace the drive shaft. This is really best left up to a dealer. No broken bolts to date they come right off.

I now have over 2000 hours on my DF225 just did my 10th water pump. No stuck D/S. The splines are showing wear as well as the sealing surface. I will have to change the drive gear and Drive shaft before I hit 3000 hours. I use this boat commercialy for Stone crabbing we move 60-70 traps on the boat at a time. I have no mercy on that engine. I run the crap out of it. It owes me nothing. I would have went through 2-3 powerheads if it were a two stroke.

Here is my take on the whole Drive Shaft issue. These engines develop so much torque with that gear drive setup. Softning of the rockwell hardness will allow the shaft to wear instead of shattering under load. But it requires more regular maintanance. (Lubrication) The DF spline is the same as the DTV6. We never saw hardly any wear on the two stroke splines. But I have shattered a Drive Shaft before on a DT200 and seen several others do the same. The failures occured under extreme load.

This is just my opinion of what I see. We all know what opinion's are like.

I seen this comming. These engines run so well you don't want to touch them. Fix it and maintain it. If you can't afford to maintain it you can't afford to own it. Thats the way it is and you know I'm right. Sorry I'm not trying to offend anyone here."

The other lower unit dropped r

The other lower unit dropped right down. I can only get the one that is hung up to drop about a inch. can I pry it?

try gently. how many water pum

try gently. how many water pumps in five years?????

Might be hung up on the deflec

Might be hung up on the deflection bushing. I doubt its the splines it wouldn't move at all.

"Counter rotating 250 has a pr

"Counter rotating 250 has a problem with seal at base of power head,,,salt water comes in and rusts the shaft into the power head...they installed a new seal on mine last year, will report when I try to drop it next week.. Loss of oil is one clue you have the problem! Warranty issue...but to get them to admit they have a problem?????"

"I have an 04 DF 50 and until

"I have an 04 DF 50 and until a few months ago the engine developed a "churping" noise when I clutched in at low RPM's, on the trailer it didn't make this noise. I asked 2 Suzuki dealres and the both said that I wasnt't flushing the engine enough and the splines on the drive shaft were dry and most likely had salt built up in there. The engine, boat and trailer all are washed and flushed after each ocean use. So I took the lower unit off and the grease on the splines was very dark and tacky, I cleaned it off and added new grease...no more churp. Has anyone heard of this happening to other models of Suzuki outborads? Can salt work it's way up there and casue a drive shaft to stick into the splines as discussed?"

"I talked to my mechanic frien

"I talked to my mechanic friend today. They tried the following to try and get it to break free. Took out all lower bolts so that the leg should have dropped. Used wood wedges between the cav plate and the mid section...then exposed the driveshaft under the powerhead and used an impact chizel on the driveshaft. The combination of the tension from the wedges and the impact chizel still wouldn't break it free. I replace my Yami pump impeller every 2 seasons, never seize the leg boats every spring and haven't had an issue. I wonder how many Suzuki dealers are telling their customers how important it is with these engines to pull the leg every year? Would this clinch the sale? Probally why many owners are unaware of the need to do it."

"Call Trick Marine in Fort Lau

"Call Trick Marine in Fort Lauderdale, they will confirm the Suzuki problem with the base seal and water coming up the shaft....and...oil getting out!"

I know that coupler on many of

I know that coupler on many of the trucks I've owned has had a grease nipple to keep the driftshaft splines lubed. Maybe Suzuki should redesign down the road with their next models having access and a grease nipple in place.